Patagonia Up Close: Wind-Swept Stories

We are currently sailing through the inside passage of Patagonian Chile. Calm and scenic, it’s also cloudy and rainy, and I’m happy we don’t have to go anywhere outside today. I’m happy to simply stare at the passing scenery as it goes by.  It’s a good time to catch up on a post about yesterday’s activities.

The Strait of Magellan

When Magellan sailed the Trinidad around the tip of South America and along its western coast, he went ashore at this sandy spot, securing its future for the next few centuries. Punta Arenas (Sandy Point) would become an important and thriving port until the early 20^th century and the advent of the Panama Canal. 

Today, it’s a community of 120 thousand that has suffered many rough economic times since the port’s prominence diminished. Its colorful buildings make it easier for families to find their homes during the winter months when deep snow blankets the area. Corrugated steel building material helps drain the melting snow in the spring. Winds are so strong here, city managers have ropes tied between light poles so pedestrians can hold on while walking between shops. Thankfully, on this day, the winds were calm.

We journeyed to the Parque del Estrecho (aka Magellan Strait Park) with its Fuerte Bulnes National Historic Monument and museum, located about an hour out of town. We drove the coastal road, passing dozens of beached fishing boats waiting for the fishing season to begin (King Crab season is July 1 – November 30). It’s a narrow and rocky-looking, low coastline, littered with a few of the many shipwrecks for which the area is famously known. In one section along the water’s edge, there are hundreds of small graves, which turned out to be a dog cemetery. 

With a former geography professor as our guide, we had a terrific experience focused on the geography, history, environment, flora, and fauna. The historic fort was originally established in1843 and rebuilt a hundred years later. It includes a church, captain’s quarters, jail, powder magazine, stables, and barracks.

We took a really enjoyable walk through the park, learning about the plants along the trail, eventually arriving at Puerto Famine. It was a beautiful setting memorializing a horrific mass casualty in 1587, of an early attempt to establish a Spanish colony. The settlers perished from starvation and the harsh climate. There was only one survivor, eventually found by English Captain Thomas Cavendish, who named the site to memorialize his tragic discovery. On this day, we were welcomed by a spectacular rainbow stretching across the horizon. 

The museum was small but had interesting displays about the famous sailing vessels during the age of discovery, the history of colonization, and a lovely photo display about the region’s glaciers.

A light misty rain began to fall as we headed back down the coast to our floating home away from home on the Azamara Quest.